


Out of focus, eye to eye, 'till the gravity's too much

by chaoticneurobivergent



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Lance is a bi disaster, M/M, POV Lance (Voltron), inspired by a real encounter I had so I hope the people involved will never read this : ), just a casual day when you're bi and tired you know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 07:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15814062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticneurobivergent/pseuds/chaoticneurobivergent
Summary: “Lance stop complaining challenge.”Hunk’s voice came to him from upfront where Hunk and Allura were walking in this stupid lane full of leaves.“I’m not even saying anything!”“You think too loud” Allura said. “We all agree this class is gonna suck, we’re all dead tired, we all want to go home, but we have to keep it together just a little more.”“A little more” Lance repeated in a chuckle. “Okay sure, let’s act as if it wasn’t four hours long, on a cloudy friday afternoon, stuck in a small room with classmates who barely talk to us.”“Details.”- Lance is expected to spend 4h in a small classroom working on a research paper with Hunk and Allura, and that's what he should do. Except he's tired, and hungry, and this day is really lacking some spice. And by "spice" Lance doesn't mean "Keith's presence" but that's what he get.





	Out of focus, eye to eye, 'till the gravity's too much

**Author's Note:**

> sometimes I remember my life, and my demon klancer brain's like "klance AU!" and this kind of things happens  
> the title is from "Treacherous" by Taylor Swift  
> Enjoy this gay encounter ft. college life!

Rationally, Lance wasn’t actually pissed, more like so tired he could only think of his bed waiting for him twenty-five minutes of bus away. He was just slightly mad at astrobiology because, while the subject itself wasn’t bad, its classes took place at the opposite side of the city in an ugly grey-ish sad building Lance lowkey wanted to burn. Hunk said he was being dramatic and that they were lucky to at least have recent buildings - unlike the humanities - but Lance had none of it: the biology part of the campus? Ugly, awful, very likely cursed. No fancy white stairs or large windows on every wall could make up for the coldness of the design, the tricky closed doors or the thinness of the corridors. The bathrooms, Lance found out after looking for it for _ten minutes_ , were in a cellar: it said enough about priorities around there.

“Lance stop complaining challenge.”

Hunk’s voice came to him from upfront where Hunk and Allura were walking in this stupid lane full of leaves.

“I’m not even saying anything!”

“You think too loud” Allura said. “We all agree this class is gonna suck, we’re all dead tired, we all want to go home, but we have to keep it together just a little more.”

“A little more” Lance repeated in a chuckle. “Okay sure, let’s act as if it wasn’t four hours long, on a cloudy friday afternoon, stuck in a small room with classmates who barely talk to us.”

“Details.”

 _I wish._ It was supposed to be sunny, but Lance had yet to see a single ray of light. It was a detail, sure, but it would have helped to deal with the next _four hours_. They turned right to reach the metallic stairs - they didn't know how to get to the classroom by the main doors, which was yet another proof this building was messed up.

“Who’s our teach today?”

“I think it’s.. what’s his name?” Hunk slowed down to think. “Coran something?”

“No it was him last time, it's Mr. Shirogane today.” Lance frowned, and Allura laughed as she held the door. “Don't make this face Lance, we’re on the computer room he’ll mostly be with the other group.”

“Cool, I'm not even gonna enjoy his good looks. What's the point?”

“You know I love you, but are you really gonna complain the whole time? We could at least try to make it fun.”

“Could we, Hunk?” He could see the door from the room 010, with its fun but random drawing of a cat tapped on it. Lance stopped, plea in his eyes as he turned to his friends in a last attempt. “Can't we skip?”

“Too late, McClain.” Shiro’s voice came from right behind him. There was a smile on Lance’s face as he turned around, trying to not look too tired and unmotivated, as if he didn’t just beg his friends to take the bus back home.

“We were just talking about what we would do if you weren’t there in 15 minutes.”

“Sure, sure.” Shiro said with the tone and the smile of someone who didn’t believe him at all, passing next to him to open the door. He struggled with the keys for a bit, but gave them a last smile as the door opened and he walked back to the other classroom, where the other group was doing cooler stuff than their research paper. “Good luck, kids.”

Lance shrugged. _Good luck for what? It’s going to be the most boring friday afternoon of my entire life._

 

“Not to be dramatic-”

“You should stop there, then.”

Lance side-eyed Hunk on his left, but he was too focused on his computer screen to see it. His eyes moved fast, clearly reading and already only half-listening to whatever Lance was going to complain about.

“Anyway, not to be dramatic, but if I have to read another meta study I will actually fall asleep. I can’t do this. I’m too tired.” He turned to Allura on his right, looking for any kind of support, but she was also focused on her screen, taking notes on the google document Lance hadn’t even touched in the last fifteen minutes. And when she replied to him, there was only a tiny bit of compassion to warm Lance’s heart.

“Do you want my scarf as pillow? There are two more to read.”

“Uuugh.” Lance let his face fall against the desk. “Why did we chose this subject? Couldn’t we find a topic without a lot of serious studies, so less reading, like, aliens or something.”

“Pidge’s group is already doing that.”

“Really?” Lance asked, but he didn’t doubt Hunk’s words. From his place, he could take a look between two computers and see Pidge's group just before them. She was explaining something and gesturing all around, Rolo, on her left, was nodding and taking notes, while Keith, on her right against the wall, was frowning. “I’m not surprised. Their group is so… cool.”

“I would say ‘mysterious’” suggested Allura in a whisper.

“They're just like us. Pidge's fun, and Keith is just a dork - and Rolo too, I guess.”

“There I’m surprised. They got this… aura.”

“Well, Hunk got a point. They’re ones of the few who chat with us and they do are like us. But I see what you mean Lance.”

“Hm.”

 _Just like us._ It was easy for Hunk to say that, as he loved everyone. He was still suspicious of Rolo, for whatever reason, but Lance agreed: there was something about this guy who seemed off, and it wasn’t just because of how close he could get from Keith, but it was also for this. Not everyone could do the same, and besides Rolo and Pidge, Lance hadn’t really seen the guy talk to anyone. Lance lingered on dark wavy hair, and eyes focused on a paper. He kept looking as Keith scribbled in a corner, half-listening to what Rolo was saying, and then Pidge interrupted and Lance watched Keith’s face light up in a small smile, and from where he was, Lance could swear he heard few notes of his laugh. ‘ _Just like us.’ Yeh, sure, like if Keith Kogane wasn’t from a whole other planet._  

“So what’s even their hypothesis? I’m not sure Mr. Shirogane will let them do some ‘Aliens are real’ thing.”

“I don’t know. I feel like he would let them do it, just to laugh while reading.”

“Totally, Allura.” Hunk nodded vigorously. Lance could picture it, too. Shiro on his desk, drinking coffee after coffee because he barely had time to grade all their essays, bursting into laughter as soon as Pidge’s group’s title entered into his sight. “But it was Coran who validated our hypothesis, would he accept this?”

“Are you kidding? Have you _met_ Coran? The guy would encourage them and he would give them books about it. He would say” Allura cleared her throat and started her imitation of Coran, even raising a hand to touch an invisible mustache. “‘You guys really chose a great topic, I can’t wait to read it! I know it’s really interesting but don’t write more than 5 pages wink wink!’” Allura stopped, waiting for their reaction - approvals - but Lance and Hunk only looked at each other in silence. “You both know I’m right.”

“You’re right,” finally admitted Lance “and that’s terrifying. I can’t believe Keith got to read about aliens while we’re stuck with chocolate… it makes me want to eat chocolate.”

“Update on ‘Lance stop complaining challenge’: Lance was doing well while he was checking Keith out but now he’s back at it again.”

“First of all, I wasn’t!” Lance tried to defend himself over Allura’s laugh, and he knew they wouldn’t believe him but he still had to state it, for any potential audience. “Second of all, don’t be so loud he could hear you!” A glance at the tables told him they weren’t paying any attention to their group. It was a relief, but at the same time, Lance felt a tug on his chest because they really weren’t paying _any_ attention to them.

 

Lance didn’t realize he had actually fell asleep on Allura’s scarf before Hunk’s hand tapped his shoulder, soft words waking him up.

“How long..?” He asked in a growl, his voice barely back.

Hunk took a moment to think, and Lance knew right there that it was bad . “Just ten minutes?”

“Just-?” _Who even fall asleep while doing a group project? Who cares during lectures! But we don’t zone out nor drop off in group projects; this is Group Project 101._ “Quiznak I’m sorry guys. I really.. I don’t know, all this chocolate talk made me hungry and now I’m trying to ignore my belly’s call. And I’m exhausted.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry. If you let me take my scarf, we can do our break now.”

“Yes! And I’m sure we can find a vending machine with some chocolate.”

‘Oh yeah, sure, how hard finding a vending machine in a building constructed to make you hate life can be?’ That was what Lance would have replied to Hunk if he wasn’t still waking up from his short nap, and he would have made a very good point. Except he was just raising his head back up and rubbing his eyes, letting Allura take her very soft - Lance noted for future boring lectures - scarf, so he didn’t question their plan twice. Going to the vending machine, taking a twix; it was a routine, an inherent part of his college life at this point, he had absolutely no reason to assume it would be a disaster.

“Let’s go!” Lance followed behind his friends as they left, and when he looked back to the room, it was _only_ to check on the other groups; a duo was still working hard, the trio in the back was chatting while on their phones - probably having gave up for now too -, and Pidge was typing over Rolo and Keith’s talking. The amount of motivation contained in this classroom could probably be stored in a paper plane. The end of the semester was near, after all, and at this point most of them were too focused on engineering classes and the week of exams coming, than some _biology_ paperwork they weren’t even sure of the due date - which was, now that Lance thought about it, a clear example of how college students weren’t always coherent, considering this paper could be due for the end of this class and no one looked slightly alarmed. “Do you guys now where’s the vending machine? I’m lost here.”

“I think I’ve seen one in the hall.”

“Noice. I hope they have twix. The only valid moment of my day is gonna be with it.”

“Lunch with us wasn’t bad.”

“There was no french fries left but I’ll still give you that Allura, it wasn’t bad.”

Certainly not as bad as how Lance felt once they reached the hall and he noticed the vending machine. “Is it just me or does this thing look dead?”

“No no no no _no_.” Hunk reached towards it and inspected it carefully. “Nope! It’s not dead, but probably in agony.”

“Whatever, I just want to get this over with.” Lance struggled in his pocket to find his card, his arm raising up in the usual gesture when it stopped. “Hm.”

Allura was fumbling in her bag looking for her own card. “What?”

“I don’t think it accepts students cards.”

“What?!” Allura looked up, searching for any way to make it work still, because come on, how would students working there all the time would survive? But the machine barely looked like the ones they had in the engineering buildings, there was no green screen, only a grey box which didn’t seem to work and a slot for coins. “Quiznak. I don’t even have cash.”

“Who have cash nowadays? Clearly- wait.” Lance tried his jean pockets in a desperate last hope - because really, all he wanted was a twix, he wouldn’t handle the rest of the day if he couldn’t have this one thing. “Me!” The 1€ coin stood victoriously between two of his fingers, and Lance didn’t wait any more. Every second passing without his twix made the day darker, but every step towards it made his mouth raised up, until- “Oh quiznak my quiznaking life.”

“I’m not sure you’re using this word correctly.”

“I’m serious Hunk, look!”

So Hunk turned towards the machine, just where Lance couldn’t stop staring, just where his twix had started falling only to stop midway. “You don’t have another coin, do you?”

“No, I absolutely don’t.”

 _Well, this day sucks, what’s new?_ Lance wasn’t sure sticking his arm in the slot would help in this situation, as the twix was on one of the top rows. So he just stood there, trying to ignore the bags under his eyes in his reflection, staring at the twix which was supposed to bring joy in his day but was stuck - a coward, if you asked Lance. He knew Hunk and Allura had moved on his side, and they were talking to people but Lance didn’t look at who, because it didn’t matter right now, and maybe if he stared at his lost hard enough, the twix would fall by itself. He didn’t notice the figure walking behind him to get a coffee at the other machine, so he flinched slightly when he heard a small “Hey” in what was unmistakably Keith’s voice.

“What’s happening?” Keith continued. He was looking straight at him, Lance was barely able to maintain eye contact.

“Hm. I wanted a twix and it got stuck. So..”

“Ah, it’s annoying when it happens.”

“Yeh.”

Annoying was a word for it. Lance had a preference for “devastating” but he wouldn’t go and contradict him. Not when Keith was still standing next to him - just close enough for their shoulders to touch - and acting as if them talking with the most natural thing in the world. Lance recognized Pidge and Rolo’s voices now, deep in a conversation with Hunk and Allura, so he thought Keith would go back to them now that he had his coffee, and if Lance was lucky, he would give him a half-smile of compassion on his way.

But Keith stayed. And Lance was staring, suddenly finding Keith’s messy hair way more interesting than a twix, even though Keith himself was looking at the traitor. There was a pout on his face as he frowned, and then he just pushed the machine slightly. They both heard the “clang” of victory, but Lance only cared about Keith’s dazzling smile when he looked back at him. “Got you, buddy.”

Lance leaned to take the twix out, speechless like a dumbstruck idiot - because he finally got his hands on chocolate, or because Keith’s mere presence did that to him, he wasn’t sure.

“Oh my god. You just saved my life.”

Keith chuckled. “No problem.”

Somehow, Keith seemed way more _normal_ now. Lance had mostly seen him from afar and in class, sometimes in group in a corridor, always quiet and in a corner, so he had just been That Hot Guy Who’s Too Cool To Be Real. Now, Keith still looked too cool to be real, but at least from up close his skin was less smooth, his eyes were more soft, and his lips thinner. And sure, he was still gorgeous when he laughed, but the sound felt warmer now that Lance was nearby to hear it.

Lance had figured he was staring again, but this time Keith was staring too, so maybe it was okay. Maybe just this once Lance could drown into it, he could shyly smile back and pretend time had stopped, so then maybe he would be brave enough to fall for those purple-ish eyes and kiss those thin-but-still-kissable lips.

Except time hadn’t stopped, and Allura brought him back to reality.

“Lance we should go back- Oh! You got it!” She exclaimed when she noticed the twix in his hands - twix that Lance had totally forgotten.

“Keith got it.” He corrected. “But you’re right, we should work.” He glanced one last time towards Keith, ignoring the blush he felt rushing on his cheeks. “Thank you.”

He noticed Keith’s last small smile, and he heard a whispered “You’re welcome” before he turned back into the corridors. Lance was almost glad to come back to the meta studies, because he didn’t think he could have handled more of Keith without dying.

 

“See, I told you they were nice.” Hunk said as they sat down, quickly adding: “Rolo’s still on thin ice.”

“Yeh you were right.” Lance made it clear just to see Hunk’s smile, even though he was still feeling weird about this whole encounter - he hadn’t even actually talked more to Pidge or Rolo. “Did you figure their hypothesis?”

“Nah, Pidge was super cryptic. You?”

“Me?”

“You didn’t ask Keith?”

“Oh.” It would have been a way to make small talk, indeed. Except Lance’s brain wasn’t really in a small talk mode when Keith showed up, and looked at him, then saved his life, then looked at him again. All of it on the sound of an awfully awkward silence, if only Lance had been focused enough on it to listen. “No, I.. didn't think about that.”

“Too busy flirting, were you?” Allura’s voice chimed in.

Lance glanced at her. She was somehow deeply invested in her paragraph, typing as fast as usual, but she still managed to tease him with a mischievous smile. “I wasn't?”

“Right. Maybe it was only him, then.”

She looked right at him, and Lance could hear Hunk laughing next to him as red reached his face. “There was no flirting involved!”

“I hope so, McClain.” Shiro was at the door, but Lance had been loud enough for him to get every word - and Lance lowkey wanted to combust.

“We were just talking about... what we would do…. in fifteen minutes?”

“Not your best comeback.”

“I’m tired from working, sir, that’s all.”

Mr. Shirogane barely stayed, he only came checking on the three groups present and specified the due date - two weeks from now. They had time. And knowing this didn’t help them working faster. Still, they had barely an hour left, and while eating his twix Lance got motivated enough to read one more meta study and start writing his part. When Pidge’s group came back, he was only slightly distracted by her voice and by trying to look at Keith without meeting his eyes, nor being too obvious to anyone in this room - he was pretty sure Allura noticed, but she didn’t say anything.

“Should we leave now? We can still got the first bus.” Hunk suggested. They had actually let it go for a while, starting to ramble about what they’ll do of their week-end - not much, a lot of sleeping and ‘should study but naps, bro’ - while Allura was still asking them their opinions on her introduction, but even her was losing focus and joining their conversation.

“Please, yes. I’m so done with this.”

“Agree.” Lance concluded from where he was, once again, resting on Allura’s scarf.

The trio behind them had already left, leaving the duo somehow still deep into their work, and Pidge’s group who was packing, too. Rolo was already outside and Pidge joined him soon, but Keith lingered. Which was unusual, if you asked Lance, but he was too tired to overthink how the guy was fiddling with his shoes and putting his jacket again and again, even though he had put it correctly the first time. Or how Keith kept closing his eyes to take deep breath, until he finally stood up with a new found confidence and turned towards them.

“Hey Lance, you owe me a twix now.” He looked so smug - and so hot - Lance didn’t believe this was happening, until he witnessed the smirk turning into a shy smile as Keith looked back at his shoes and muttered. “Just joking.”

Hunk was trying not to laugh next to him, but Lance was paying attention to Allura’s pointed looks that he didn’t understand. She was mouthing something and gesturing between Keith and him, and oh- _OH_. Lance buried his notes in his bag, not caring about the potential mess, because he had to be fast. He could have ran. He could have jumped over the tables, knocked the computers over, probably stumbled on the way, but he wouldn’t have cared because this was more important. Still, he pretended to be walking casually, conjuring all his smoothness to not look like a total disaster, and he stopped Keith by the shoulder.

“Anytime, man.” Lance set up his prettiest smile, ravishing in the way Keith’s cheeks had started blushing. He let his hand run along Keith’s arm, reaching his hand to drop a piece of paper inside. “Just hit me up when you’re free.” Then Lance winked, and he turned around, walking past Pidge and Rolo in the corridor and turning in what he hoped was the right direction. Hunk and Allura caught up with him near the hall, and Lance finally allowed himself to breathe.

“Well played, Lance.”

“Thanks Hunk.”

“Just one question Mr. There-was-no-flirting-involved,” Allura started, and she didn’t wait for Lance’s approval to continue. “How long have you been carrying your number in your pocket, ready for Keith?”

“We are so _not_ talking about that.”

**Author's Note:**

> don't ask me how they managed to put chocolate in astrobiology, I still don't know how my friends and I managed to put chocolate in our psychobiology project
> 
> I hope you enjoy!! Don't hesitate to comment and/or leave a kudo! And you can find me on [@keithisautistic](https://twitter.com/keithisautistic) to follow my projects (I'm working on another, longer, Klance fic!)


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